The Overvaluation of Portuguese Influence on the Formation of Brazilian Society

Starts4:00 pm on Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Ends5:30 pm on Wednesday, March 25, 2026

This critical discussion of Maria Cristina’s article on Sérgio Buarque de Holanda’s Raízes do Brasil offers a close reading of both the original and revised editions of Holanda’s influential essay, arguing that its account of Brazilian social formation depends on a determinist and organicist overvaluation of Portuguese influence. Although Holanda recognizes African and Indigenous participation, he assigns them a secondary, reinforcing role while treating the Portuguese colonizer as the primary agent shaping Brazilian identity. This approach, the article contends, obscures the sociohistorical construction of identity and marginalizes non-European actors, exposing persistent tensions between sociological method and essentialist reasoning in a foundational text.

Location:: 121 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215
Registration:: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/overvaluation-of-portuguese-influence-on-formation-of-brazilian-society-tickets-1983619028913?aff=oddtdtcreator

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